ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the nature and implications of transformations in the field of security in post-1989 East European polities. While empirical focus is on Bulgaria and Romania, the processes examined in the chapter are part of a larger set of transformations associated with the construction of liberalism in former communist countries in Europe. It pays particular attention to developments that occurred in the first few years of post-communist transitions, because transformations that took place at that point in time continue to have a major impact on the field of security in East European polities. The chapter suggests it is particularly important to study the problematic interpenetration of the public/private domains in the post-communist era in a situation in which there is a growing tendency in policy-making circles to treat the transitions in Eastern Europe as 'success stories' of liberalization, which can serve as models to other polities that are seeking to escape the legacy of a non-democratic past.
